Where Can You Sell Your Gold?

There are many places around that are willing to buy your gold. In order to get the best dollar when you sell your gold, however, you will need to check several places first. Some Websites and businesses that buy gold are not going to give you very much for it. Other ones will give you a much better price – especially if your jewelry is beautiful.

What Kind Of Price Can You Expect for Gold Jewelry?

The prices that you may receive for gold jewelry could go from about 90 percent down to about 30 percent of its value. As you can see, it will pay to shop around. You should not settle for less than about 80 percent. It is best to get an approximate value first by going to a local jeweler. It is also possible that you will get more from a local merchant, than from most online gold dealers.

How Can You Tell How Much Your Gold Is Worth?

One way to get an idea of its value is to look for some lettering on the gold jewelry, such as 10K, 14K, or 22K. These numbers indicate its purity – the higher the number the more valuable it is. Then, you will also need to know the weight of the item – in ounces. If there is a gem involved, this will need to be either removed, or its worth will also need to be considered in the sale, too.

What Guarantees Do You Have?

If you should go to an online buyer of gold, know that most of them will return your gold – if asked to do so – within a specified time period. They will need you to send them the gold first, so that they can evaluate it, and then they will send you a check (or pay through PayPal) for it. You then can accept it or reject it and get your gold back.

When selling gold online and you send it to the company, you want to be sure to have it insured – just in case it gets lost in the mail. Or worse, lose it if the company is dishonest. It is also a very good idea to do a little investigation about the company online just to see what other people are saying about it.

There are different places available online from reputable news companies that will give good recommendations for people who are selling gold jewelry. Here are two places that come highly recommended from some of these sources:

Sell Your Gold.com

Gold Pawn Shop.com

Do Refiners or Jewelers Give Top Dollar for Gold Jewelry?

There are different kinds of businesses out there that are buying gold. When looking around and asking: Where can I sell gold? You really have two different kinds of buyers. One kind is looking to sell a volume of gold to a gold refinery. They will simply give you money for what is often called “gold scrap.” Another kind – a jeweler – will probably sell it as is – especially if you have a beautiful piece of gold jewelry. In that case, you should be able to get more for its beauty. Some people go to pawn shops to sell their gold, but be aware that a pawn shop will typically only give you bottom dollar.

The national averages for the annual interest rates on savings accounts are not very high. Most are below 0.5%. So the HSBC Advance online savings account is quite the bargain. It has the following features:

1.1% annual percentage rate

At about 5 times the national average this is a great increase even if the interest rate itself is still low compared to historical averages.

No regular monthly fees

Monthly fees quickly eat up your interest payments with the current low interest rates, so it is good to find an account without fees.

Low minimum deposit

The HSBC Advance online savings account only requires $1.00 to open.  So what are you waiting for?

No transaction fees

There are still fees for orders such as stop payment orders. Read the fine print before you open an account so you are aware of what charges may occur.

FDIC insured

Currently FDIC insured accounts are guaranteed up to $250,000.

Fast application process

You can apply online within minutes.

Established bank

HSBC bank has been around for over a century. In the current climate of failing banks, it is nice to know your bank has a good track record.

Online banks have been around for about a decade now. Unless you have your heart set on walking into your local bank branch to deposit money, they are very convenient. Taking away that local temptation to withdraw money, will also give you an edge in increasing your savings. The best way to increase a savings account balance is to deposit money regularly and then consider it off limits.

Of course, there are still convenient ways to access your money. You can link your HSBC Advance online savings account to any number of checking accounts at any bank. You can also withdraw money at any  ATM machine. This will come in handy when you are ready to withdraw the money for the purpose you saved it for. Just remember, this is a savings account, not a checking account. If you want to take advantage of that increased interest rate, you need to keep your money in there for as long as possible.

In my experience, accounts such as the HSBC Advance online savings account offer great annual interest yields in better economic times too. Since the overhead costs are a bit lower than for the brick and mortar branch locations, the consumer gets a slight benefit. It is never a huge increase, but if you save steadily, it will make a difference. On $10,000 just a tenth of a percentage point adds $10 in interest to your account. For the HSBC Advance online savings account the difference is about eight tenths of a percentage point right now.

Overall, this account has some great features, so when you are ready to add a savings account, keep this one in mind as you compare your options. Personally, I have found online savings accounts to be an excellent tool for my savings portfolio. The only drawback I have found is that when you do not access the account frequently, there is a tendency to forget the passwords you set up. So make sure, you have simple answers to those security questions everyone establishes these days.

Banking and finance conglomerate Barclay’s used to own iShares.  Under its auspices, iShares grew to be the biggest player in the ETF world, offering over 400 different funds ranging from wide-ranging market index offerings to narrow niche-specific options.

In 2009, Barclay’s decided to raise cash in the face of the banking crisis by selling off the highly successful iShares unit.  At the time, experts thought that Vanguard, Charles Schwab or Northern Trust might buy iShares.  In something of a surprise, they instead announced plans to sell to CVC Capital Partners for over $4 billion.  However, during a 45-day period in which Barclays’ was allowed to shop iShares before the deal was finalized, BlackRock –a New York based financial management company–came up with a $13.5 billion offer for iShares and its parent unit.  In June of 2009, iShares officially became part of BlackRock.

The change in ownership hasn’t seemed to hurt iShares.  Even though the ETF field is growing increasingly competitive, iShares managed a significant increase in the total of assets under its management.  According to the Financial Times:

According to figures from BlackRock, assets under management for global ETFs reached $1,032bn (£639bn, €734bn) at the end of December, some 5 per cent above the previous all time high of $982bn registered just a month earlier. European ETFs also fared well, registering a record high of $223bn last year.

That boost put slightly over 50% of all EFT assets in the US under iShares management, an increase of around 4% for the year.

Why is iShares continuing to gain so much ground even in a market that’s exploding with new funds?  According to a recent Wall Street Journal analysis, much of it is the natural advantage of being an established player.  Most ETFs are index funds.  Their returns are easy to understand and they can be remarkably similar.  That makes it harder for new ETFs to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack.  Additionally, ETFs are traded just like stocks, which means investors are attracted to funds that are established and that have high trading volume, which makes selling a quicker proposition. established funds with heavy trading volume—thus they know they will always be able to sell quickly and cheaply. That puts new players at a disadvantage.

The advantages of being the “king of the hill” are undeniable, but iShares also continues to attract investors because if offers such a wide range of funds.

over 400 funds globally across equities, fixed income and commodities, which trade on 16 exchanges worldwide.  A CNN/Money report noted that iShares runs over 400 different funds–across commodity, fixed income and equity types–that are traded on 16 different markets around the world.

Honesty.  Transparency.  Purity.  Tax and Cost-Efficiency:  Those are what iShares lists as the underlying principles governing their approach to business.  I’m sure they’d credit a commitment to those ideals a key component to their success, as well.

Regardless if the causes, the results are clear.  BlackRock’s iShares is continuing to gain popularity within the exchange traded fund world.  They’re well known, respected, experienced and offer a huge number of fund options for investors.  Anyone who is considering getting actively involved with ETFs should carefully consider iShares funds.  There’s no such thing as a sure thing in the world of investing, obviously.  However, it seems sensible to believe that a company who currently hols more than half of the US market is doing something right.

Owning a chunk of the action in “Texas tea” was a winner for Jed Clampett, but will sinking your invest dollars in an oil ETF be more likely to land you in a Beverly Hills mansion or looking like Jethro on the back-end of a scheme gone wrong?

As is always the case, the answer depends on who you ask.

How do oil ETFs work, anyway?

We recently provided a little overview of how an exchange traded fund (ETF) works.  When it comes to a commodity like oil, things are ever-so-slightly different.  The best explanation I’ve found came from ETFdb.com.  They explain:

At a high level, oil ETFs function just like any other exchange-traded product: they track an underlying index. But unlike traditional equity ETFs that hold a basket of securities comprising the underlying indexes, most oil ETFs achieve exposure in a very different manner. Because physically buying and holding most oil and gas products is prohibitively expensive (and in some cases, like natural gas, nearly logistically impossible), oil ETFs instead generally invest in near-term futures contracts on the underlying commodity to gain exposure to prices. While this strategy may track spot prices fairly closely in certain environments, it may be way off in others

That’s a great explanation because it explains what’s really in the fund, how it ties to the oil market and the reasons why it can be a hit-or-miss proposition.  But it doesn’t answer the question of whether or not you should be investing in an oil ETF.  In an effort to provide a balanced overview, we’ll look at both arguments.

Some reasons to consider investing in an oil ETF

A commentary at Zantrio makes a near-term recommendation for oil ETF investment.  There’s not much explanation for the thumbs up other than the usual “my sources tell me” and “all indicators point to…” rhetoric.  Interestingly, the piece notes that a strengthening dollar and other factors may actually have a negative longer term impact on oil, but the author thinks there’s still space for some upward movement.

The argument detailed by Josh Lipton at Minyanville is more persuasive.  He notes that Morgan Stanley analysts and others are bullish on oil and oil ETFs and that their excitement stems from two observations.  First, there’s a sense that we could be looking at a 4% growth rate for the GDP in 2010, which will not only increase short-term demand, it will also refocus attention on limited supply issues tossing even more fossil fuel on the “this stuff is running out and, thus valuable” fire.  Additionally, the article notes that demand for oil has been fairly inelastic, especially in many foreign economies, meaning that there’s plenty of space before a price correction would be necessary.

Some reasons to pass on oil ETFs

That same Lipton article also notes that there are plenty of analysts who disagree with the Morgan Stanley assessment and who don’t believe the fundamentals in place to predict a justifiable rise in the price of crude.  In other words, it may or may not go up but based on reality and logic, it should probably be cheaper.  The upticks in price are the work of rampant speculation, according to this perspective.  I think we’ve all seen enough bubbles pop over the last few years to be wary of another speculation-driven, overvalued investment opportunity.

Another piece at ETFdb notes that moves toward stabilizing post-war Iraq’s oil industry could lead to a bounce in overall output.  That would have a negative impact on prices.  That analysis points to one potential reason to be concerned about long-term increases in oil prices, but concedes that changes in Iraq are unlikely to have much of a near-term impact on oil ETF values.

So, is it a good idea to buy oil ETFs right now?

Well, I’d recommend reading all of the above-noted material, the sources they cite, the sources those sources cite, etc. before sinking as much as a Sacajewa dollar into an oil ETF.  There are interesting arguments on both sides and when you combine those differences of opinion with the inherent volatility of oil and the fact that oil ETFs don’t always actually track to real market prices, it feels like a crapshoot.

What’s your opinion?  Is it time to invest in oil?  If so, do you think that an ETF is the best way to make the move?

Proshares is one of the five largest providers of ETFs in the United States.  They currently offer 92 different exchange traded funds.  But these aren’t your run-of-the-mill funds.  Proshares specializes in inverse and leveraged ETFs.  These funds are assembled with the goal of outperforming the index to which they’re tied and are often based on shorting.

Let’s say you thought frozen concentrated orange juice was going to drop today.  You could buy into one an short-based, or inverse, ETF.  If frozen concentrated orange juice dipped 5%, you’d theoretically post a gain of approximately 10% (that’s the leveraged part).  And, of course, the Duke Brothers would be very upset.

Proshares is really focused on funds of these sorts and has marketed them fairly aggressively.  Unfortunately, not everyone really thinks they’ve been entirely above-board in their efforts.  That’s where the controversy comes into play.

Gilman and Pastor, LLC, is a law firm that is pursuing a class action lawsuit against Proshares, alleging that the company is selling defective security product.  The firm states:

ProShares touted its UltraShort ETFs including those listed above, as simple-to-execute investments which go up when markets go down. Although ProShares touts its securities and cloaks them with certainty due to allegedly reliable mathematical formulas, their math does not add up.

They go on to argue that the math Proshares is using is only good for a single day and that anyone holding these investments for more than one day can’t expect the kind of leveraged performance Proshares touts.  They maintain that Proshares marketing was deceptive and that the company failed to provide adequate information to investors about these “extremely confusing products.”  You can read the whole complaint here, and it does make an interesting and rather compelling case that leveraged ETFs should only be considered day trading tools.

Another law firm, Zamansky and Associates, is also hot on the heels of Proshares.  They have a long list of complaints about the nature of the funds and the way those funds are marketed and allege (among other things) that Proshares:

* Failed to disclose the long term risks and inverse relationship between the funds’ and indexes
* The negative consequences of market volatility
* The negative effects of the funds’ daily adjustments
* That leverage ETF’s are unsuitable investments

I’ve been close enough to law firms and those who populate them to approach some of these claims and the motivations behind class action lawsuits more than a little bit.  I’m not saying that these firms are right or that they’re wrong about Proshares.  I just want to make it clear that I don’t necessarily think they’re pure-hearted white knights.

In any case, Proshares has weighed in on this controversy, too.  In an open letter published at their website they discuss whether they’re leveraged ETFs are really just quick-hitters for the day-trading crowd or a credible investment strategy.  On a “facts and fallacies” page, they take on many of the other claims levied against them.

I don’t know how the legal issues will play out, but I’d be willing to bet on my overall perspective regarding leveraged and inverse funds like those at the heart of the controversy.  They’re probably not a smart toy to put into the hands of novices.  They’re inherently more risky than traditional plays–anything that promises twice the potential return comes with twice the risk.  It makes sense to do just what Proshares recommends, which is to check them as often as daily to see if you need to rebalance.

What are Exchange Traded Funds

An exchange traded fund, or ETF, is a fund holding a collection of assets that is traded on the exchange.  They tend to trade at a price that’s approximately equal to the value of their holdings.  ETFs can be tied to an index like the S&P 500 or they can consist of holdings targeting a specific market sector.

A Yahoo article does a good job of explaining just how diverse the range of exchange traded funds options really are:

There are ETFs for large US companies, small ones, real estate investment trusts, international stocks, bonds, and even gold. Pick an asset class that is publicly available and there is a good bet that it is represented by an ETF or will be soon.

Do They Sound Like Mutual Funds to You?

Based on the basic definition, it’s hard to see the difference between an ETF and a mutual fund.  There are important distinctions, though. Mutual funds accept orders during the regular trading days, but all of the buying and selling happens when the market closes.  ETFs work differently.   They trade instantly, just like stocks, from the bell’s opening ring until the last trade is made.

Why are ETFs Gaining in Popularity?

ETF assets were at around $40 billion at the end of 1999.  Now, they hold at least $1 trillion in assets.  They’re popularity is increasing for several reasons.

First, the wide variety of ETF types provides investors with an easy way to diversify their holdings.

Second, many are attracted to their tax efficiency.  Exchange traded funds have one big “tax event” and that’s when you cash out.  That’s when you settle your capital gains bill.

Third, people love the low cost involved with ETFs.  Many of the best only charge around 1/2% in expenses.  That’s incredibly low, making them a potentially profitable investment.

Fourth, exchange traded funds offer a level of flexibility that other funds can’t.  You can buy inverse funds and you can even sell your ETF holdings short.

Fifth, ETFs are easy for new investors to handle.  You can get into these funds with nothing more than a little money and a discount brokerage account.  It’s as easy as buying a little stock–nothing trick or exotic.

Sixth, you don’t need to be a high roller to get involved.  The cost to enter the ETF world is negligible.  You can buy a single share and have a stake in the overall performance of a major index’s primary companies on the cheap.

Is there a Downside to Exchange Traded Fund Investment?

Not really.  Let me rephrase that.  There’s no unique downside to ETF.  There are things that many of us would probably prefer to skip, like paying a broker’s commission at purchase, but that’s a situation applicable to other investment vehicles, as well.  There’s always the chance that the value of the ETF will drop, leaving you with a loss.  Clearly, that’s the situation no matter where you put your money.

If you think you’re the world’s best stock picker and that you can isolate individual holdings that are on the verge of value explosions, you might not be too excited about ETFs.  The most popular ones, those tied to major indexes, will climb or decline over time, but the moves up and down will rarely be all that radical.  That’s different than buying a stock at $10 on Monday and selling it for $20 on Friday.

Overall, ETFs are an attractive investment vehicle for those looking for a long-term option.  Historically, they’re not movers and shakers but the are winners over the longer term and have a number of unique advantages.

With the thousands of brokers out there and because it is your money choosing a broker is not only important but critical to your financial health.  If you ever watched the movie Boiler Room you see what can happen if you get tied up with a shady broker.  How do you guard against this?  One of the ways is to use FINRA Broker Check.  To best describe what they do I will take a quote right off of their website. “BrokerCheck is a free tool to help investors research the professional backgrounds of current and former FINRA-registered brokerage firms and brokers. It should be the first resource investors turn to when choosing whether to do business or continue to do business with a particular broker or brokerage firm.”

I decided to check out the brokerage firm that I currently have my IRA account with.  To begin a search all you do is put in the name of the broker or brokerage firm.  You do have to agree to the terms and conditions and then hit enter.  The first page that pops up will give you some general information about the particular firm or broker such as the profile, history and whether they are currently suspended with any regulator.  It was refreshing to know that my firm is not currently suspended with any regulator.  From there you can drill deeper and get a more detailed report so that’s what I did.

Well when they say detailed report they didn’t lie.  I now had a 108 page report in front of me all about my brokerage firm.  In this report you will get detailed listings of the owners of the company and much more information about the history and operations.  What was of particular interest to me were the sections talking about arbitration awards, disciplinary and regulatory events.  I looked closely at this section just to get an idea if there was any previous shady action going on that would concern me.  Though there were some events on the list there was nothing there that really was of great concern.  Most were very minor things that could even fall under the category of “misunderstandings” between the broker and the customer.  Overall I was satisfied and glad to know that my IRA and other investments are being housed with a reputable firm.  In a way I am glad because if they weren’t then I would have to find another brokerage house which I wasn’t really thinking about doing right now.  However if I did have to find another one at least I know where to go to get all of the information on the new firm.

Robert Kiyosaki has made a fortune off of his Rich Dad, Poor Dad series, so as a marketer Kiyosaki is brilliant.  The question is can you survive by following his financial advice.  Well obviously you would need to know the crux of his financial advice so I am going to give you what I call the Kiyosaki classics.  By the way when it comes to financial advice you should follow the one thing Kiyosaki said that makes sense, “beware of who you get financial advice from”. 

The Kiyosaki Classics:
If you’re going to go broke, go broke big
Education is a waste of time
Diversification and investing for the long term are bad advice
401(K)’s are the biggest scam ever
One of the ways to make money is through real estate investments
Believes network marketing is a good way to develop long term residual income

If you boil it all down here is what Robert Kiyosaki is.  A motivational speaker – yes!   A best selling author – yes!  A great salesman – yes!   A great financial mind, not at all!  So really then how does Kiyosaki make his money?  My personal opinion is his income is driven by book sales and seminars, again a great PR machine.  Does he even practice what he preaches?  Well it is hard to tell because he refuses to come clean about his actual income.  He estimates it’s between $50-$100 million but there is no verification of that.  And by the way where are the real estate properties he owns, good luck in finding those.  Personally I have nothing against him because I don’t know him, but I see a man capitalizing on an industry full of people who are financially un-educated.  His audience isn’t the wealthy but people who want to become wealthy and unfortunately these can be some very gullible people because they want to believe and change their situation so desperately.  I am not alone in my views of Mr. Kiyosaki’s financial advice, here are some other Kiyosaki detractors:

Get Rich Slowly
The Simple Dollar
John T. Reed

 In my final analysis of Mr. Kiyosaki I will use his own words to sum up what I have been saying.  “We go to school to learn to work hard for money. I write books and create products that teach people how to have money work hard for them.”  I don’t think my own words could do any better justice.  SO if you need motivation his stuff is good, if you need financial advice, take action at your own peril after all remember those who can’t teach.

A few years ago I was involved with one of these companies and I used their product which was an acai berry product.  Like Monavie, which retails for about $39 per bottle, there were plenty of testimonials about the validity of the product such as increased energy, lower blood pressure, helping with diabetes and even eliminating arthritis pain.  I myself used the product and the first time I took it I got some buzz.   After that whenever I drank it that buzz was gone and I don’t know if it made any difference. 

The problem with Monavie as it is with all of these companies is the claims that people make are never evaluated by the FDA.  Just so you know I am not an FDA evangelist.  In fact sometimes I wonder if the FDA is really interested in endorsing these types of products because I believe the FDA is married to the drug companies.  I personally don’t believe the FDA will endorse a product that has the potential to take money from the drug companies.  Because of this most of these Monavie claims go unverified.   Usually with most of these companies it is usually excited reps who testify to the greatness and validity of these products and my personal opinion is Monavie falls into that category.   So does the product work, I believe the jury is still out on that but if you go to purplehorror.com you will get the complete scoop.   

On the other side Monavie is a network marketing opportunity with the possibility of earning an income by selling the product and building a team.  Here is where the waters get really muddy when talking about Monavie.  Generally when you are selling a product that product is sold to an end user, generally not associated with the company who will use the product.  With Monavie, as with many network marketing companies, the majority of people consuming the product are the reps who purchase it to qualify for their commissions.  According to Newsweek, only 1 percent of reps qualified for commissions and only 10 percent made $100 per week.  So the big money that people are making is coming from reps just making their monthly auto-ship orders.  If you have enough people on your team, your overrides from these auto-ship orders will create big earnings.  But, is this an effective business model?  According to that same Newsweek article, over 70 percent of distributors drop out of the business, and remember those reps are the primary customer base.  Unfortunately without a legion of loyal fans with no ties to the company who are purchasing the product this is not a sustainable business model.  If you eliminate the reps you eliminate the Monavie business.

The bottom line is Monavie falls in line with most other network marketing companies.  There is nothing unethical about the product and it’s not a scam, however in this industry only 5-10 percent of the people ever make any real money.  I can’t tell you whether or not you should join this opportunity but if you do at least you can go in with both eyes open.

We might as well dive right in by explaining what this alleged online auction site is really all about.  They auction really nice, genuine, name-brand consumer electronics, appliances and other high-demand items.  It’s operated on a pay per bid system.  You buy your bids for $.60 each.  They’re worth $.12 cents in terms of boosting the auction price.  I know.  That sounds confusing.  It’s really not.  We’ll let Swoopo explain:

Here is how it works: our online customers buy “bids” in advance. They cost $0.60 each and are sold in packs of 40, 75, 150, 400 or 1000. Bidders have the choice of placing single bids, or, using an electronic bid assistant called the “BidButler”.
Every bid placed, increases the price of the product by 12c and the auction countdown by up to 20 seconds. To help keep track of the money spent on bidding, each auction displays the amount spent on bids by the customer and how much the bidder would save overall, if they won the auction at that moment.
The ‘last bidder standing’ when the countdown reaches zero, wins the auction – usually at a very low price; winners save, on average, 65% when compared to the recommended retail price.
In December 2007, Swoopo was successfully launched in the UK, followed by Spain in May 2008 and the US and Austria in September 2008. Swoopo has launched Canada in June 2009, more countries are going to be added in the future.

So, what’s wrong with all of this?  You can conceivably pay a few bucks in bids and end up with a great retail item for pennies on the dollar, right?  Absolutely.

That’s why Swoopo isn’t a scam, per se.  It delivers on its promise.  You bid.  If you win, you get the item.  Even CashMoneyLife, who is very critical of Swoopo concedes that it’s not an outright scam.  The combined cost of your bids may be a very small percentage of the value of the item under consideration.

Swoopo pulls it off profitably because it’s collecting all of those other $.60 bids that only juiced the item’s price tag by $.12.  Remember, if you bid on Swoopo and you LOSE, you really do lose.  Your bids go into the Swoopo coffers, not back to you.

Thus, Swoopo rakes in enough dough to cover the purchase price of the auctioned item.  The cumulative amount of money spent on the bidding process can represent several times the actual retail value of the item.

Ben Hollis broke it down on an “auction” for a shiny new iMac.  The conclusion?   An item worth approximately $1,400 went for only $365.  Swoopo collected $9,800 in the auction!

So, what’s wrong with that?  People played the game.  Some lost.  One won.  Swoopo makes a profit for providing the playing field.  In the immortal words of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, “Buy the ticket, take the ride.”

Well, there may be nothing wrong with it in that sense.  There are potential legal problems stemming from the fact that the process eventually turns out to be little more than a dressed up lottery, but that’s a legal issue stemming from gambling regulation.  It isn’t prima facie evidence of pure evil.

Or is it?  I guess that depends on your perspective.  There are those who will undoubtedly wag a finger at Swoopo for taking advantage of the frailties of human psychology to generate a profit.  There are those who will be disgusted by Swoopo’s effort to appear like a “new and improved” version of a legitimate online auction service.  There will even be those who don’t really buy into capitalism with a Milton Friedman-like furor who will be upset by the fact that Swoopo may be generating such a huge profit margin on some of its “auctions.”

Personally, I’d stay away.  You won’t find David Lampsen bidding on Swoopo.  Ain’t gonna happen.  Then again, you don’t see me lining up at the convenience store on the day of big Powerball drawings stuffing my pockets with tickets.  If you like lotteries, you’ll love Swooopo.  If you’d prefer to manage your money with a bit more wisdom, you’ll stay the hell away!

While looking into Swoopo, I found a number of extremely interesting assessments of what they’re doing and how they’re doing it.  If you find the whole thing as fascinating as I do, you’ll want to read these:

• Jonah Lehrer has an ubelievably cool piece about the psychology of Swoopo at Frontal Cortex.  If you only read one article about why people gravitate to the site, make it this one.
• Jeff Atwood’s oft-cited assessment of Swoopo at Coding Horror lays the groundwork for why the auctions are really nothing more than mini-lotteries.  It also contains a perfectly apt Wargames reference for those who remember Dr. Falken.
• Ian Ayres’ contribution to the world of Swoopo analysis at The New York Times “Freakonomics” blog is outstanding.  It explains why this weirdness produces the kind of results it does in a very accessible way.